


Round Two

by ambiguously



Category: Star Wars: Rebels, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: F/F, MayThe4th Treat, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-04
Updated: 2018-05-04
Packaged: 2019-04-16 15:35:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,414
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14168025
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ambiguously/pseuds/ambiguously
Summary: Sabine and Ahsoka get stranded in the past together.





	Round Two

**Author's Note:**

  * For [sevenofspade](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sevenofspade/gifts).



"Is it weird to tell you that little you is adorable?"

"Little me didn't know the things I do. Lucky kid."

They're in a not very savory bar in a not very savory part of Coruscant. Sabine isn't sure why Ahsoka's master would ever have brought a younger version of her into this place. She is sure that the expression on Ahsoka's face is going to give them away if they don't get out of here. Ahsoka is focused on the pair at the other end of the bar, and it's only a matter of time until Skywalker notices. Cute kid beside him or not, Sabine doesn't want to risk his figuring out who they are.

"Come on," Sabine coaxes her. "We have that thing we have to do."

"A little longer," Ahsoka says, almost pleading, and Sabine hasn't yet learned how to tell her no.

"All right, but if you destroy the space-time continuum out of nostalgia, I'm going to say I told you so."

That draws a smile. Fine, so they wound up here in the past and maybe they'll botch the timeline forever as a result, but Sabine does love that smile.

The other pair are here on Jedi business, or so Ahsoka tells her quietly, and when their business is concluded, they leave. Ahsoka is risking a lot, but she's smart and doesn't risk following them. Sabine watches the shifting emotions on her face, now that she can show them, and takes her hand. If they had come to Sabine's past instead, she'd be a wreck now, too. As it is, she hasn't even been born yet.

"Let's go," she says as soon as it's safe. The way Ahsoka turn her head says she knows precisely where the innocent, unknowing, trusting version of herself has gone. Sabine holds her hand as they walk, partly to remind Ahsoka not to run after her younger self and warn her of all the sorrows yet to be. "We still have to figure out our way back. You've traveled in time before. Can't we use that place you went with Ezra?"

"It wasn't really time travel. The World between Worlds is a space apart, not a tunnel from one time to another. This is new."

New, and more dangerous. Ahsoka and Ezra had prevented the Emperor from accessing the Whatever World, but Sabine and Ahsoka had only walked into a cave on their latest planetary exploration and found themselves on Coruscant twenty-odd years in the past with no idea how to get back. Anyone could have done that. When Sabine thinks about the chances of someone with ill intent coming through after them, for example any of the enemies they've been collecting like jewelflies ever since they started this quest, she gets a weak feeling in her gut.

They need to get back, and they need to close the cave by any means they can find. It's the first part that's the big issue. Ahsoka can't go to the Jedi Council, not without endangering her own future. Sabine can't go to her family for help, not while Mom is busy hanging out with Pre Vizsla, and she can't go to her friends, not when Hera is only eight years old. They're on their own.

She gives a glance to Ahsoka. Not that that's different from how things have been for a while now. Sure, they're in the wrong time. Sure, spending time in Ahsoka's old haunts is going to land them in more trouble. Sure, there's a chance they'll get stuck here and have to lay low for the next twenty years. But the company can't be beat.

"New plan. Is there anyone we can trust to help us who doesn't care enough about us to destroy the timeline?"

Ahsoka grows thoughtful, and it wipes away the sadness in his eyes. Good. "There are a few members of the underworld I can think of who won't pay attention to anything except credits." They had these, at least. Automated bank stations aren't Jedi-proof because they don't have to be. Ahsoka isn't above petty theft for this mission, and Sabine never has been. "There are a few destinations I can think of where we might find aid."

Sabine doesn't like this plan. Handing over their stolen credits to Hondo Ohnaka is a little too close to their timeline to make her comfortable. "He'll know you."

"He hasn't met younger me yet, and he'll never have reason to think I'm her. Arda Talosa and her new wife are willing to pay their last few credits to start our new life together. Hondo is one of the few traders I know who knows the proprietor of the place we're going. Getting there with someone else will be more difficult."

"And she'll help us?"

"I hope so."

Hondo doesn't run so close to the Core, but enquiries lead to a "chance" meeting they work very hard to arrange.

"Takodana? Yes, I've heard of it. The passage will be of course," he sniffed, "somewhat expensive."

"That's all we have!" Sabine says in faked outrage as Ahsoka hands over the payment. She sells the moment well enough, and they're not robbed over the rest of their voyage.

"Pirates don't have scruples," Ahsoka tells her as they lie tangled together in their small bunk, "but they don't bother robbing people who don't have any money." One hand rests comfortably between Sabine's thighs, and moves gently back and forth as she talks. There's not much to do on the ship, and they have been enjoying what little there is to do very much. Her conscience reminds her that this is not a pleasure cruise, that they need to get home not just to preserve the timeline but also to resume their search. Ahsoka's hand moves, her eyes focused on Sabine's in the dimly-lit cabin. Of course, if they are missing in time, they aren't really losing time on their search. Right? Right. A shiver moves through her, and she pulls Ahsoka in for another kiss.

Hondo's crew does try to rob them at the end of the trip, almost as an afterthought, and they're easy to defeat even without Ahsoka using the Force.

"Not in my house," says the diminutive woman while she glares at Ohnaka. "You should be ashamed."

"Never!" he declares, but he does leave.

"And what do you want from me? I sensed you coming from halfway across the galaxy." Maz Kanata is famous in the underworld. Sabine has never met her, and Ahsoka won't meet her for years. She gives the air of someone who could be grandmotherly in one instant and deadly in the next.

Ahsoka says, "I have a trade for you. I know the location of several artifacts you would be interested in."

"And?"

"My companion and I have found ourselves at the wrong end of a time tunnel. We'd like to rectify that problem."

"That's a shame. I don't do time travel myself."

"No, but you are rumored to have access to particular technology that can suffice."

Sabine was happier with the Hondo part of the plan than she is with this part. Cryogenics are risky, and trusting their sleeping lives to a famous criminal for the next two decades is madness. Ahsoka doesn't see any better options, and short of the two of them growing old together as they wait for time to catch up with them, neither does Sabine.

"You're sure about all these?" Kanata asks Ahsoka, looking up from the long list.

"I am."

"I'll wake you up if you're lying. But I don't think you're lying. What date do you want to wake up?"

One last hurdle. Sabine carries a list of dates written on her heart, days she'd rewrite if she could. Friends lost. Mistakes she would stop herself from making. All the little aches and big griefs that make up a life. Before Ahsoka can say, Sabine gives Maz the exact date they will walk into the tunnel together.

"Every day is a test," Ahsoka says, understanding on her face and a lifetime of regrets inscribed inside herself, too.

"That must be why I have nightmares about waking up naked and late for class," Sabine says, stepping into the chamber and lying down.

Ahsoka gives Maz her thanks, and joins Sabine inside the pod, taking her hand. "Ready?"

"Future, here we come," Sabine says, and as the hiss of the freezing gas fills the chamber, Ahsoka squeezes her hand.


End file.
